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GSU forum focuses on economics of undocumented workers

STATESBORO - Fifteen years ago, a university forum on the burgeoning population of undocumented immigrants in Georgia might have seemed as relevant as a bicycle for a fish.

Now, though, with an undocumented immigrant population of roughly 300,000 people, a booming economy hungry for low-wage workers and two months after a wave of immigration raids swept part of the state, Thursday's immigration forum at Georgia Southern University seemed infinitely appropriate.

About 200 students, faculty and area residents gathered to hear from several speakers, including Paul A. Harris, associate professor of political science and director of the Center for Immigration Studies at Augusta State University.

The forum's theme: The contributions immigrants make to - and the toll they take on - Georgia and the country.

The bottom line for Harris on why immigrants want so badly to come to the U.S. they will do so illegally: Georgia's booming economy.

"These undocumented immigrants are all going to come here because they're welcomed by the business community," Harris said. "They do dirty, dangerous and demanding work. And they're also docile. They're not going to speak up."

Harris understands that Americans competing with immigrants are seeking relief from legislators. He also has no quarrel with the U.S. trying to protect its borders.

But given the strength of the U.S. economy relative to Mexico and some other Latin American countries, expecting to decrease immigration through legislation, he said, is simply unrealistic.

Debra Sabia, professor of political science and former director of the university's Center for Latino Outreach, organized Thursday's forum in an effort to "elevate the debate" over immigration. Sabia was especially troubled about immigration raids in Emanuel County during the Labor Day weekend, when agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested about 120 undocumented immigrants at the Crider Inc. poultry plant in Stillmore and at their homes.

"The students hear so much anti-immigrant rhetoric, but no knowledge," she said. "We're trying to raise the level of debate so students can be more informed about the pros and cons of immigration in this country."

Georgia's undocumented immigrant population has been increasing dramatically since the early 1990s. It stands at nearly 300,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nationwide, the number is about 11 million, about 8 million of whom are Hispanic, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

They do jobs many Americans won't do - bloody work in chicken processing plants and other low-wage jobs.

Undocumented immigrants in Georgia also pay an estimated $215.6 million to $252.5 million in sales, income and property taxes in the state, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

The Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business puts the number even higher, Harris said - $317 million in Georgia income taxes alone in 2004.

On the other hand, undocumented immigrants are a drain on communities in terms of school overcrowding and the need for public schools to educate large numbers of non-English speaking students, as well as other public services such as law enforcement, health care and housing, Harris said.

"(These services) have been severely stretched to keep up with the demand," he said.

Illegal immigrants are also the stuff of politics. The immigration debate has ramped up in recent months, and many politicians are hitting it hard in their re-election campaigns, calling for tougher enforcement measures.

This tough talk has led to a lot of misinformation, Harris said.

Case in point: the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, approved by the Georgia General Assembly last session. One provision denies state social welfare benefits to anyone who cannot prove legal U.S. residence - something that has been illegal under federal law since 1996, Harris said.

One of the things Harris called for was issuing more temporary work visas, which would allow Latino workers to work in the U.S. temporarily, then return to their home countries.

"But it's politically dangerous," he said. "No politician is going to stand up and say, 'We should issue more immigrant work visas.'"

Thursday's forum was the first in what Sabia hopes will be a series of such events. It attracted not just political science majors, but majors in business, nursing, public health, sociology, communication arts and humanities.